We recently connected with Phoebe Chan and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Phoebe, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
For a lot of my childhood, I had mostly sung as a side hobby (with a sliver of hope that I’d get lucky and debut one day). I posted covers to my YouTube channel, entered singing competitions, performed at local events. I eventually got my first part-time job for the sole purpose of getting singing lessons, attended an idol training academy for a year or so, joined an idol group, and kept pushing myself into the spotlight despite that fear of failure or judgment. I even got to sign on and release music with a small Japanese record label called HAF Records for a time! But all this was a mere afterthought compared to my “real priorities” – pursuing my degree and getting what others would consider a “real job.”
It was right before the onset of the pandemic that two very impactful things happened to me: the release of my first original EP “Moon Garden” and the release of the first song for which I was hired and paid by someone else to sing, Miyolophone’s “In My Garden.” My EP “Moon Garden” was fully crowdfunded by my community of fans and supporters, my FeebeeHive, and included four of my *very own* songs, imbued with all my own intent and emotions. This moved me immensely, because it meant that people actually believed in me and my music and *wanted* to listen to my singing, even if I wasn’t performing a popular song that they already knew and loved. It meant that I *was* capable of writing my own songs and putting the feelings I wanted to convey to others into musical form. A new desire to create in a way I hadn’t before begun stirring inside of me.
Meeting Miyolophone was huge for me as well. We’ve been good friends and constantly inspire each other as artists even to this day! We both tend to enable each other’s (somewhat unhealthy) workaholid behavior as well haha. He’s composed for many of my EPs, singles, and albums, and I’ve sung for many of his projects as well. “In My Garden” was a project for a class of his and he was auditioning for two vocalists on Twitter. I often auditioned for projects but had never auditioned for an original song project. I was thrilled to be casted for one of the two parts, and was shocked to find out that I’d not only be singing with a longtime inspiration of mine, Anapantsu, but that Miyo would be paying me for my work. Was my singing worth money??? Giving new life to original songs, especially for other incredible songwriters like Miyo, was an amazing feeling.
After struggling with my self-esteem for years, I felt a new sense of belief in myself and in my singing. It’s not to say that my self-esteem and confidence issues were magically fixed (I definitely still struggle with those) but I realized that pursuing music professionally was not impossible. In fact, I really, REALLY wanted to try. I’m, admittedly, stubborn and a workaholic so when I set my heart on a goal I don’t give up. This time, I wouldn’t let my dream out of my sight!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Phoebe, your 2.5D Fairytale Idol! I’m a California-based vocalist, lyricist, voice actor, and online personality who aims to create comfy, cozy music and entertainment with empathy, warmth, and tolerance in mind. Heavily influenced by Japanese idol, anime, and pop music and performances, I write my own genre of whimsical fairytale-themed music in both Japanese and English and perform them on both the IRL stage and virtual stage as my real and VTuber selves, respectively (hence why I’m 2.5D).
As someone who feels like my own childhood was stolen from me due to traumatic experiences, my music and career as an idol is extremely dear to me because it is one of the first things I’ve decided on and done fully of my own volition in my life. I write and sing my music with the goal of inspiring others to take hold of their own lives in the way that I have, accept themselves with love and forgiveness, and write their own stories. This is the subject of a lot of my songs, like “Fairytale,” “All of My Life,” and “Stand Up,” and why people call me the fairytale idol.
For those that don’t know, “idols” in Japan are entertainers, often young women, who primarily sing and dance on stage, but often also act or model. Unlike their K-Pop idol counterparts, Japanese “aidoru” are nbot expected to be perfect and polished upon debut. Fans look forward to growing and learning alongside their favorite idols as they crack, stumble, and fumble their way into stardom over a longer period of growth! They often sing cutesy, uplifting songs about youth but many have branched out to break some of these stereotypes as “underground idols” and the idea of an “idol” has become a lot more diverse. One such new type of idol is the “kaigai idol” or “overseas idol,” J-Pop inspired idols outside of Japan.
As a kaigai idol, I aim to bring an authentic J-Idol experience to Western audiences while putting my own fairytale spin on the genre. People can expect heartwarming, high-energy, highly interactive experieneces at my concerts where I open up about my own story, encourage fan cheering and chants (known as “wotagei” in idol culture), and try to genuinely connect with the audience, and by extension, connect the audience to one another. I also offer interactive meet and greets afterwards where I sell my CDs and merchandise, and take pictures with my fans. Some of the most meaningful interactions in my life have happened during these meet and greets. My FeebeeHive is truly filled with some of the kindest souls I’ve ever met. I’ll work my hardest for as long as I possibly can to give back to these kind souls with my music, performances, and livestreams!
This year has been big for me in the way that I’ve released my very first full=length original album “All of My Life” and that I’m currently on my first-ever nationwide tour, my Beach 2 Beach Megatour! “All of My Life” was made in collaboration with many other creatives that inspire me (Miyolophone, Feris, PliXoR, and Odyssey Eurobeat to name just a few) and speaks to many of the messages of self love that I’ve been trying to convey to people the world over. Of everything I’ve worked on so far, I’m most proud of this album, so it’s very dear to my heart. My Beach 2 Beach Megatour has been an incredible experience too. I’ve gotten to perform and be a guest at events I’d only ever dreamed of attending in places that I’d never traveled to, one such place being Otakon in Washington, D.C. Along the way, I’ve met so many amazing people and learned a lot as a performer. I hope I’ll be able to tour again in the future, or at least find my way to lots of new places and venues!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
As an entertainer, you have to deal with A LOT of people. I mean, you have to interact with others in most fields but in the entertainment industry there’s so many weird unspoken rules and this strange social heirarchy. And so much of your career banks on who does and doesn’t like you! I’ve realized, though, that it’s impossible for everyone you come across to like you, and so it’s best to stick to your guns and not mold yourself to placate people who don’t care about you. Other opportunities *will* arise.
More than anything, I want to stick to my own morals and beliefs. There were a lot of times when this has been tested, but there was this one time when I was torn between the way my management at the time treated my art and my fans and the way I saw my art and my fans. We got to a point where we often argued about this. They would often look down on other artists that weren’t managed by them, even to the extent of trying to sabotage them behind the scenes, didn’t seem to care about the music outside of it being a product, and told me that I needed to “milk [my] fans for their money.” The point where I realized I couldn’t keep arguing with this person but, instead, needed to find a different manager, was at one of my performances. We had a very young fan and her father travel to watch me and the idol group I was in perform. They had been longtime supporters and I had been corresponding with them in messages so that I could deliver a gift to them of signed merchandise from my group. I coordinated with them ahead of time so they could pick up the gifts during my solo performance but had my management and groupmate cancel on bringing me some of the merchandise that they were holding onto because giving out “handouts” wasn’t a priority to them. Determined to follow through with our promise, I wrote a letter and improvised by handmaking a gift for fan instead. I was worried it wouldn’t be good enough compared to our nicely produced merchandise, but her face lit up and I was so, so, so relieved.
Needless to say, I’m now working on my own terms on my solo projects as my fans and I grow and move forward together!
Have you ever had to pivot?
While the pandemic was and has been a difficult time for so many, I admit that it’s been something of a blessing for many creatives. Did I miss performing on stage? Of course! But it gave me a miraculous perfect window of time to pursue my creative dreams professionally and pivot my content into an entirely new direction – streaming and VTubing.
Having my hours cut at work meant that I needed additional sources of income, and having to stay inside meant I had to be resourceful and find a different way to connect with and continue to cultivate my FeebeeHive community of fans that had just started to grow. I’d just released my first EP and done several big solo performances earlier that year. There was no way that I was giving up this dream that I had just set my heart on. And so, I decided to continue connecting with my fans via streaming! I started as a facecam streamer and then transitioned to being a VTuber (virtual streamer with an animated avatar). VTubing was what really propelled my career forward. I made so many friends, met people all over the world that wanted to listen to my voice, and even have begun voice acting professionally as a result of indie game developers discovering my streams. Now, the world has begun to open up again and my VTubing is no longer at the forefront of my career, but none of what I’m doing today would have been possible without the three years that I spent VTubing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://feebeechanchibi.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feebeechanchibi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/feebeechanchibi
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/feebeechanchibi
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@feebeechanchibi
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3AVEJlXqQJciNtMTZn2AjA https://feebeechanchibi.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/mrdangphotos/ https://www.instagram.com/ivan_aburto/ https://www.instagram.com/marbotaro/ https://www.instagram.com/ssalazar.media